The invention relates to a radiator grill arrangement for a motor vehicle front end of a motor vehicle.
These radiator grill arrangements with closeable air passage openings are known from the state of the art. DE 10 2004 048 038 A1 discloses a closeable motor vehicle radiator grill arrangement, where closing of the air passage openings in the radiator grill is realized by a displaceable bar element structure. These devices require a relatively large installation space in order to enable the translational movement of the bar elements from a closing into an opening position. This is not desirable with modern engine chambers, which are already cramped.
Accordingly, exemplary embodiments of the present invention are directed to a radiator grill arrangement for a motor vehicle front end of a motor vehicle in which an opening and closing of air passage openings in the radiator grill is enabled with a low installation space and simple kinematics.
This is achieved solved by a radiator grill arrangement for a motor vehicle front end of a motor vehicle, the radiator grill arrangement comprising a radiator grill with a plurality of air passage openings, and at least one flap element of a flap arrangement, the flap arrangement being connected to the radiator grill in a manner such that one or several of the air passage openings can be substantially closed, wherein the at least one flap element is swivelably supported around an associated rotational axis.
A generic radiator grill arrangement for a motor vehicle front end of a motor vehicle includes a radiator grill comprising a plurality of air passage openings, and at least one flap element of a flap arrangement, by means of which one or several air passage openings can be closed at least substantially. It is provided according to the invention that the at least one flap element is mounted in a swiveling manner around an associated flap axis. A swiveling of the flap elements in order to influence an opening state of the air passage openings in such a manner is distinguished by a low installation space requirement and by a simple kinematics. The radiator grill according to the invention can thus be realized in a space-saving and cost-efficient manner and ha additionally a low maintenance requirement due to the simple movement kinematics.
In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the at least one flap element can be swiveled between a closing position, in which it closes at least one associated air passage opening, and an opening position, in which it completely unblocks the at least one associated air passage opening. A regulation of the air flow flowing through the radiator grill will thus be possible by such an arrangement. This air flow serves for the cooling of the engine compartment and of components arranged therein. In certain operating states, a partial closing of the radiator grill arrangement can be advantageous, as more air than actually necessary for the cooling is supplied to the engine compartment by means of the driving wind. By means of a partial or complete closing of the radiator grill arrangement, the air supply to the engine compartment is reduced to the required air in these driving states and the drag coefficient cw is thereby simultaneously improved. Additional fuel savings are result thereby. The emission of sound from the engine compartment is also reduced with a closed radiator grill arrangement.
In a further preferred embodiment, in the closing position of the at least one movable flap element, an edge thereof engages a groove of an associated bar or the like limiting at least one air passage opening of the radiator grill arrangement. Thereby, the flap element is additionally fixed mechanically in its closing position and a particularly tight closure of the air passage opening is achieved is achieved by the cooperation between the edge and the groove.
In order to further improve the sealing action of the flap elements in their closing position, a further embodiment involves mounting a sealing element at the edge of the flap element and/or at the groove, into which the mentioned edge engages. This can, for example, be realized in the form of a sealing lip of rubber or the like. This improves the sealing action and further reduces the sound emission from the engine compartment. In a particularly preferred embodiment, the edge and the groove form a labyrinth seal in the closing state of the flap elements. The sealing action is hereby improved further.
A further aspect of the invention relates to the formation of the at least one flap element. This preferably comprises a closing surface, which covers the associated air passage opening in the closing position, and a base part. The base part can thereby be formed smaller and lighter than the region of the closing surface, so that weight and further installation space are saved. The rotational axis of the at least one flap element is preferably arranged in the region of the mentioned base part.
In a further arrangement of the invention, an actuation element is provided which is coupled to an end region of the at least one flap element. It is thereby particularly preferred to couple the actuation element to an end region of the base part. A particularly simple movement kinematics of the flap element results. A movement of the actuation element is transferred to the flap element via the end region of the base part, which can rotate around its rotational axis in the manner of a lever and thereby changes the closing state of the associated air passage opening. By means of the distances between the end region and the rotational axis on the one hand and the rotational axis and the closing surface on the other hand, one can adjust in which ratio movements of the actuation element are transferred to movements of the flap element. Particularly, a short distance from the end region to the rotational axis in connection with a long distance from the rotational axis to the closing surface enables a very space-saving realization of such a radiator grill arrangement. With such a distance ratio between the mentioned points, very small movements of the actuation element are sufficient to swivel the closing surface over a wide path. Such an arrangement additionally enables a fast adjustment of the flap elements.
The actuation element is formed in the shape of a push rod or a torsion rod in a further preferred embodiment. The actuation element itself only requires very little installation space for its movement in these embodiments, as only a small translational movement is necessary with the arrangement in the form of a push rod, in order to achieve the desired movement of the flap elements. The design as a torsion rod is even more space-saving, as the actuation element only has to carry out internal movements in this form without moving in the space relative to other components which are arranged in the engine compartment. The transfer of the movement of the actuation element to the flap elements thereby preferably takes place via a gearing, a worm gearing or a friction fit. The type of the coupling between actuation element and flap elements is thereby substantially dependent on the type of the movement of the actuation element. A push rod could, for example, be designed in the form of a gear rod, which cogs with a complementary gearing of the flap elements. In the case of a torsion rod, it lends itself to use a worm gearing, so that a rotation of the torsion rod can be converted into the corresponding movement of the flap elements via a cogging gearing of the flap elements.
For driving the actuation element, an electrical or pneumatic drive is advantageously provided. This can possibly be connected with a control device, so that the position of the flap elements can be adapted automatically in dependence on an engine compartment temperature, engine temperature or also a driving speed.
In a further particularly preferred embodiment, exactly one movable flap element is further associated with each air passage opening. These flap elements can possibly also be subject to a separate control, so that respectively only a part of the air passage openings is closed or opened in certain driving states in dependence on the cooling air requirement and on the driving speed. A further optimization of the cooling air flow in connection with an optimization of the air drag coefficient cw of the motor vehicle and thus of the fuel usage is thereby possible.